After being transferred from Gruppe Süd to Gruppe Nord, the Lehr und
Versuchsbatterie 444 (Training and Experimental Battery 444), which had
been previously stationed near Houffalize in Belgium, moved to Walcheren
on the Dutch coast during the days of September 10-15, 1944. Traveling
via Germany, the trucks entered Holland at Nijmegen, then via Den Bosch
to Breda - via Bergen op Zoom, then to Walcheren, where they arrived on
September 15 (after Engineering Battalion 211 had repaired the damage to
roads at Rilland). Battalion 3 Technical Abteilung 91 was soon added to
the forces of Battery 444 at Walcheren.

The rockets were brought to the area from the Beveland Causeway, through
Middleburg to Ter Hooge, where they were temporarily stored on trailers
under the trees before being moved to the firing sites located in a park
near Serooskerke named Vrederust. When one of the rockets was brought through
the main streets of Serooskerke, the daughter of the local blacksmith secretly
snapped several photos the the rocket on the Meillerwagen. The film rolls
were later passed on to London, giving British officials their first up-close
look at the V-2.

After setting up operations Battery 444 launched 6 rockets towards London
on the days of September 16-18, 1944. Of the six, only three reached England.
Two more rockets failed to ignite and were taken down and sent back for
repairs. There were two launching sites (at this time Battery 444 had only
two firing tables) northwest of Serooskerke, on the estate of Vrederust,
now known as Welgelegen. The large house of the estate had been occupied
by German soldiers since 1942 and featured several large concrete and earth
air raid shelters, which were used as cover by the rocket soldiers during
the launches. Two small launching areas, each about 25 feet in diameter,
were cleared out amongst the 70 foot-tall beech trees near the house. One
site was about 200 yards south from the house, while the other was only
30 yards to the east. Civilian eyewitnesses reported that the rocket operations
were carried out by a group of about 70 German soldiers. —PRO AIR.37/1253

On September 19, 1944, SS General Kammler, fearing the unit might be overrun
by Allied Troops during "Market Garden," ordered the Battery 444 to proceed
north to Gaasterland. Little more is known about the secret V-2 activities
at Serooskerke because of the very, very short time period that Battery
444 was operating there. —Division z.V. War Diary

-Photos Serooskerke

A young Dutch girl
secretly photographed V-2 rockets being maneuvered in the streets near
Serooskerke (photos 1, 2). Entrance to the estate Welgelegen (Vrederust)
at Serooskerke (photo 3). North part of the estate (photo 5, 6). - Thanks
to Henk Koopman and Ed Straten for photos.

-

-Lehr und Versuchsbatterie
444 in Rijs/Gaasterland, The Netherlands

Training and Experimental Battery 444, after spending only two days at
Walcheren, was ordered to travel north to Gaasterland in southwest Friesland,
where it could continue operations against England. The battery traveled
under the cover of darkness, as it was very risky to be on the roads during
daylight hours because of Allied air superiority. After arriving in Friesland,
Battery 444 set up operations in a small forested area called Rijs, south
of the city of Balk. The Rijsterbos (Rijster Forest) was just off the waters
of the IJsselmeer (Zuider Zee), a huge shallow lake in the center of Holland.

Moving by train, the rockets left the Assen railway station bound for the
town of Heereveen. At Heereveen they were placed on Vidalwagen road transport
trailers of the supply troops and then towed by truck into Balk. Dutch
residents witnessed many vehicles and rockets parked beside City Hall in
Balk. The rockets had to pass over a small bridge and make a difficult
turn via the roads Van Swinderenstraat and Houtdijk. The Germans cleared
trees away for maneuvering the trailers over the bridge that lead to Kippenburg.
Even today, one can still see the scratches on the bridge where the V-2
trailers clipped the railing upon making the turn.

At Kippenburg the rockets were prepared with their warheads and transferred
to the Meillerwagen erector trailer. Behind the large estate house at Kippenburg,
the propellant and warheads were stockpiled. The rockets were then moved
a few kilometers southwest to the launching sites. Strung over the dark,
unpaved, forested lanes of Murnserleane and Middenleane were large camouflage
nets suspended high in the trees for further concealment from Allied aircraft.
—Balk
City Hall Records

With the V-2 having a maximum range of approximately 200 to 230 miles,
it was not possible to target London from the location at Rijs. Instead,
Battery 444 turned its attention to East Anglia and the territory surrounding
Norwich in eastern England. Kammler was determined to continue the strikes
on the British public from wherever possible, even it if meant targeting
lesser cities. On September 25, at 18:05 hours, after the trees and shrubs
were sprayed with water to lower the fire danger, Battery 444 launched
its first rocket toward northern England from Murnserleane. Approximately
five minutes later, it impacted at Hoxne in Suffolk. The rocket hit a farm
field, inflicting only minor damage to a few buildings nearby.

That same day, the rocket troops encountered their first misfire. A rocket
had to be drained of its remaining fuel after the engine failed to generate
full thrust. The ignition cable was burnt as the engine continued to fire
while not leaving the launch table. Upon inspection, it was discovered
that the rudders and tail section had been severely scorched, so the rocket
was sent back for refurbishing. Closer investigation of other rockets from
the Mittelwerk had revealed many additional problems. Bad welds, missing
parts, short-circuited electrical connections from inferior soldering—these
were just some of the mechanical errors discovered. Not only did the crews
face difficulties from the quality of the rockets, there also existed an
acute shortage of liquid oxygen. German production had only reached a level
of about 200 cubic meters per day, which is only enough to launch 24 rockets.
The logistical problems of firing batteries on the move and V-2 units spread
out from northern Holland to western Germany did not help matters.

Late in the afternoon on September 26, a loud double boom was heard near
the English village of Ranworth. The rocket plowed into a field about eight
miles outside of town. The sound of the explosion was followed by another
loud sonic boom and then the whine of rushing air. Windows of cottages
were shattered within a half-mile radius of the blast. Officials in Britain
quickly knew that the V-2 campaign had come to East Anglia. There had been
a reduction in the frequency of V-2 attacks since the beginning of the
Market Garden offensive, but still no word concerning the nature of this
new German weapon had passed from British authorities to the populace.
These mysterious bangs were new to the citizens of Norwich. Even some of
the nearby military establishments were unfamiliar with the new threat
and recorded these first impacts as aircraft crash sites. —Bob Ogley,
Doodlebugs and Rockets, 1992; Robert Collis & Winston G. Ramsey, The
Blitz Then and Now Volume 3, 1990

At Rijs, the Dutch citizens were unsure of just what was going on near
their homes. They only knew that it was a dangerous operation. The entry
lanes to the Rijster forest were strangely blinded with canvas. They could
hear on German radio the propagandists heralding the new Wunderwaffen (wonder
weapons) but were unsure what this meant. Weeks later the BBC reported
that it was the V-2 rocket falling on England. It was forbidden to come
close to the launching sites, and very few people risked being caught near
the area. Not only was there the danger of the German guards, there also
was the peril of failed rockets crashing in the immediate area.

On the afternoon of September 30, a V-2 was launched from Murnserleane.
It rose to a height of 600 feet before an explosion in the rocket’s tail
brought it crashing to earth about 20 yards from the firing table. The
alcohol and liquid oxygen tanks exploded upon impact, injuring some of
the firing crew. The warhead sizzled in the burning fuel and exploded approximately
45 minutes later, digging a huge crater. This failed rocket had ironically
destroyed a small shrine in the forest called Vredestempeltje (the little
peace temple). Because of failures at Murnserleane, the launch sites were
moved a few hundred yards to the roads of Middenleane and Enkuizerlaan.
—Henk
Koopman, 2001

For the Dutch residents of the surrounding countryside, it was a very nervous
time. Every day they could hear the thunderous noise of the V-2 launches
and lived in fear that something might go wrong. The farmers soon knew
if the rocket did not rise vertically, anything could happen. Failed rockets
would fall in the immediate area, sometimes near the residents’ homes.
Other V-2s encountered problems at higher altitudes, and the farmers watched
them plunge into the waters of the IJsselmeer just off shore.

For the soldiers of Battery 444, the stress of the launches was just as
great. Many of them would rather have been occupied with some less hazardous
job. However, there was plenty of Dutch gin to help them ease their tensions.
British fighter planes searched the area several times; however, the ability
of Battery 444 crews to launch and retreat quickly made it difficult to
spot anything from the air. The Rijsterbos V-2 sites, with very tall trees,
provided excellent camouflage; but there was always the possibility of
an air attack, and the rocket troops were very wary of this.

On October 3, marking the second anniversary of the first successful A-4
launched from Peenemünde, the rocket troops at Rijs fired six missiles
toward the Norfolk countryside. Throughout the day, thunderous detonations
reverberated at regular intervals. From their homes, the people of Norwich
could see huge columns of black smoke in the distance rising high into
the air. The strikes were gradually coming closer to the populated sections
of the county. Late that evening, an explosion rocked the Hellesdon area.
An estimated 400 houses within a two-mile radius were damaged in some manner.
The following day British authorities recovered the remains of a V-2, which
broke up in the air before impact near Spixworth. The engine and various
important parts were sent to Air Institute at Farnborough for analysis.
—Robert
Collis & Winston G. Ramsey, The Blitz Then and Now Volume 3, 1990

The last rocket to fly westward from the Rijsterbos was launched on the
morning of Thursday, October 12. It fell innocuously in the open near Ingworth
without much commotion. Just like the rockets launched previously from
Gaasterland, it demonstrated the folly of targeting anything less than
a large urban city with the V-2. The campaign against East Anglia ended
on October 13 after new orders were received to begin targeting the port
of Antwerp. Most Battery 444’s initial shots toward Antwerp missed their
mark, falling short in and around the suburbs of the port city. However,
on October 16, 1944, a V-2 launched from Middenleane at Rijs scored a direct
hit, slamming into dock number 201 in the harbor. —PRO AIR.37/1253

After three weeks, Battery 444 disappeared from Gaasterland just as quickly
as it had arrived. The last rocket fired from Rijs headed for the port
of Antwerp on the morning of October 20. Suddenly the Germans packed and
moved south that same day. SS General Kammler had ordered the unit back
to The Hague following the failure of Market Garden.

From September 25 to October 20, Battery 444 launched approximately 70
rockets from Rijs. The first 43 rockets were launched toward East Anglia;
the others were fired against the port of Antwerp. Without heavily populated
English targets within range, the results from the East Anglia attacks
were not satisfactory. British casualties from V-2 attacks in East Anglia
ended up relatively light. Only one person had been killed as a result
of the attacks, and less than 50 people were wounded. The damage in Suffolk
and Norfolk counties was limited to only a modest amount of houses, barns,
farms, and schools. Many V-2s struck empty fields and even the North Sea.

Ever since the first rocket was fired from Rijs, British radar momentarily
tracked the incoming missiles. In addition, Allied pilots reported sightings
of contrails from ascending rockets near Gaasterland. However, these only
gave an approximate location of the firing positions. After several weeks,
an RAF reconnaissance aircraft brought back a photograph showing clear
evidence of activity in the forest. On October 21, a flight of seven Tempest
fighter bombers of the No. 274 Squadron RAF flew near the Rijsterbos and
finally located the launching sites. They flew by heading east, just north
of the forest, and after forming up in a line, the seven aircraft turned
back to attack the area. Not only did the aircraft drop bombs in the forest,
they also shot up the surrounding houses and buildings. Luckily, farm animals
were the only victims of this attack, although some civilians narrowly
escaped being hit. It was very ironic that the RAF found the launching
sites only a few hours after the last Battery 444 vehicles exited the area.
The British were unaware that the rocket units were gone, and the bombers
returned each of the next few days to attack the forest. By this time,
the firing platoons of Battery 444 were arriving in The Hague to join Battalion
485 for operations against London.

The people of Gaasterland were very relieved to see the German V-2 menace
departed. They returned to their everyday life, as it was in wartime, without
the threat of exploding missiles on their homes. Actually, they were very
lucky. There had been no Dutch civilian casualties. If not for the light
population of the area and the fact that the missiles were traveling over
the IJsselmeer after launching, the casualties may have been severe. Moreover,
the relatively short three weeks of operations meant there was very limited
damage. Later, on clear winter days, the people of Gaasterland could see
the V-2s rising from the Eelerberg over 100 kilometers away. They could
easily imagine the terror felt by their neighbors to the south, who must
be enduring the same nightmare they experienced only a few months before.

-

Photos Balk/Rijs

Old City Hall building
in Balk. Rockets were seen here on route to Kippenburg and Rijs. Thanks
to Ed Straten for photos.

Crossing the bridge
at Kippenburg. The Technical Troop, along with fuel and warheads were located
in this area.

Entrance to Murnserleane,
where many of the V-2s were fired. The "Vredestempeltje" (little peace
temple) was rebuilt, symbolically, on the exact spot of the crater where
a V-2 rocket crashed, even though the temple was originally located
on the other side of the road.